The present invention relates generally to electronically scored dart games and, more particularly, to an electronically scored dart game which includes means for detecting and appropriately scoring darts which miss the target.
Electronically scored dart games are generally well known in the art and are commercially available from a variety of sources, including Merit Industries, Inc., the assignee of the present invention. Such dart games generally comprise a cabinet or housing with a decorative front surface which includes a specialized target or dart board adapted to receive and capture one or more darts, each having a tip made of flexible plastic with a relatively blunt point. Darts of this type resemble conventional metal tipped darts in appearance, flight characteristics and target striking characteristics, but are much safer in that they are incapable of piercing a person's skin or causing damage to walls or other structures or objects adjacent to the dart game.
To enable such plastic tipped darts to be captured by the dart board or target, the target employed in some prior art dart games is comprised of a plurality of generally vertically extending target plates. The target plates, which are usually formed of a plastic material are arranged in a specific array or pattern which establishes generally arcuate scoring areas, substantially the same as the scoring areas of a traditional dart board used in conjunction with conventional metal tipped darts. Each target plate has a front surface which includes a plurality of generally circular openings sized for receiving and capturing the tip of a plastic tipped dart. Each of the target plates is independently, slidably supported within a surrounding support structure, generally referred to as a "spider," so that when the tip of a dart is received within one of the target plate openings, the force of the moving dart entering the target plate opening results in a force being imposed on the target plate, thereby moving the target plate rearwardly, at least a short distance, with respect to the support structure. Each of the target plates also includes a rear surface which contains one or more electrical contacts for engaging corresponding contacts associated with the support structure and/or housing to generate an electrical signal indicating a score when the target plate slides rearwardly after receiving a dart. Other dart games may employ a different type of target which does not use movable target plates, but which generates an electrical score signal whenever a dart is captured by the target.
An electronic scoring system associated with the dart game senses each such score signal, adds the score for each player and provides an indication of each player's score on a visual display, such as a plurality of lights, light-emitting diodes, cathode ray tube, or the like. The electronic scoring system is generally microprocessor based and includes a program or software for controlling the functioning of the dart game and for providing playing instructions to the dart game players.
When more than one player is playing such an electronically scored dart game, the electronic scoring system must keep track of the number of darts thrown in order to know when one player's turn has been completed and it is time for another player's turn to begin. In this manner, the electronic scoring system can accurately keep track of the score for each of a plurality of players. One way that such an electronic scoring system keeps track of the players is by counting the number of darts which strike the target. For example, in a dart game in which each player is permitted to throw three darts for each turn, the electronic scoring system knows that a first player's turn has been completed when it senses, for example, that three target plates have moved rearwardly, resulting in the generation of three score signals indicating scores. While such a scoring system may be adequate when employed with highly experienced players who are unlikely to miss the target, it is unsatisfactory with most other players in that each player may be permitted to continue to throw a virtually unlimited number of darts at the target for each turn until such time as three scores are made, regardless of the number of darts that completely miss the target.
In order to overcome this scoring problem, there was developed in the prior art a system for determining when a player threw a dart which missed the target. The prior art system utilized a microphone or some other such sound detector located proximate the target, and electronic circuitry for processing sounds picked up by the microphone to provide an electrical "hit" signal whenever a dart struck either the target or the area surrounding the target proximate the microphone. Utilizing such a detection system, the electronic scoring system was able to determine when three darts were thrown by a player, regardless of whether all or none of the darts actually hit the target, resulting in the generation of a score signal. The scoring system then knew when each player's turn was completed, thereby permitting a more accurately scored dart game.
While the prior art system was generally adequate, it suffered from one major flaw. In addition to detecting a dart striking the target or the area surrounding the target, the sound-activated detection system of the prior art detected certain unrelated but similar sounds in the general area of the dart game. For example, the detection system would detect sounds in the area of the dart game associated with other nearby games, such as pool, ping pong, pinball, etc., as well as other unrelated sounds which were not indicative of a dart striking the target or the area surrounding the target. Thus, with such a prior art system, the electronic scoring system would often react to such extraneous sounds by indicating the completion of a player's turn when fewer than three darts had been thrown, often resulting in the generation of improper scores for one or more of the players.
The present invention overcomes the problems inherent with the prior art detection system by providing a missed dart detection system which includes a plurality of audio detecting means at spaced locations near the target, as well as false event detecting circuitry, to permit the electronic scoring system to discriminate between signals generated by darts striking the target or the area surrounding the target and signals falsely generated as a result of other, extraneous sounds occurring in the area of the dart game.